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Chapter 2

Resonance and Dissonance

A teen having silver hair took a long drag while standing outside Namimori. He could feel the slight heaviness that came with jet lag having taken a flight to Japan on short notice. Vongola was in a rather sticky situation if they wanted him to cooperate with the number one hitman while acting independently and collecting information.

'Sawada Tsunayoshi, huh? Going by his profile, Reborn-san would have to summon the philosopher's stone to change trash into gold to make him the next candidate. Vongola's desperate to want someone that pathetic.'

His green eyes were like a swamp when he remembered the sneering looks of those who called him a nuisance. Those eyes that looked down on him, screaming that he'd never be good enough.

'And yet, why is Vongola giving that guy a free pass.'

It was a free pass that he'd be willing to crawl in the mud chopping all his limbs and donating all his organs to be given that same chance. It was what he'd been honing himself for, to be useful and in turn, be given a place of stand-in for temporary shelter – a moment of respite. He'd been feeling so jittery, like there were maggots crawling on every inch of his skin, burrowing itself in.

'It seems like things have been tampered with. The information the Young Lion gave is almost obsolete. There's nobody in the casket. I can't even do some post-mortem investigation.

Tch. I even came here early to do just that. Did the culprit hide the corpse?'

He walked to the house of the only other person affiliated with the victim – indirectly though. The garbage disposal had a scent, like the smell that draped like perfume around his sister.

'Seems like the kid's got quite the tie to the case.'

At that moment the door slammed open as a frightened redhead screeched at him.

"What do you guys want now?! I already told you I don't want to join. My stomach's been hurting me for these days… Even though I just want to play music, whyyy me?" and if on cue his knees buckled over and he plead as he clutched his stomach.

"At least, at least give me something easier to do. I'm definitely not suited for onsite work. Please, I beg youuuu"

Gokudera raised his eyebrow at the melodrama and growled. "Now what the fuck are you going on about?"

"Eep. You're not one of them? S-sorry- You kind of look right for the part, so I just-"

"Stop blathering about and get to the point." He said as he propped the sniveling boy up by the collar, forcing their eyes to meet.

"You've got such a weak spine despite being an accomplice in poisoning your pal's mother to death."

"W-what? Not again. Another one?! I don't even know how things went that far. Yet you guys arbitrarily try to pin it on me and then selfishly blackmail me to do all sorts of fishy things. The whole experiment's been in the trash for half a month now. Yet the place stinks of those blasted flowers.

My mom's telling me that the whole thing's a bad omen – both my involvement and the sweet stink that's infesting the house!

I swear, it's been a curse ever since I worked on them. I was just trying to help a friend out…" saying that Irie slouched as his voice petered out.

"Fishy things?"

"Hibari-san's making me go around those places and destroying things related to those flowers like the shrub the initial sample came from. It's kinda cathartic but it's also really scary to actually do it. It's almost like an induction ceremony…" he frowned and then muttered "Why're you even interested in this. You… seem new here" as he looked at the suitcase trailing behind the teen.

Gokudera ignored the question and spoke, "What? Has he made you go grave robbing?"

"What? That's disgusting. Who'd do such a thing- wait. It can't be, can it? It's one thing after another…" Irie paled rapidly and spoke in rapid-fire- "How did that happen? Should we call the police? No, Hibari's having way too much fun with the situation to have it resolved the correct way…

How's Tsuna? Does he know about it? The whole thing must be hitting him hard. He doesn't seem to be accepting the situation, much less coping with it-"

'Seems like this guy's not an idiot. Seems like I've got a usable hand.'

"I've not found out where the body's gone. I've come here to investigate the situation. How much does Hibari care about keeping this in wraps? You're his dog, you must at least know something about his stance."

Irie looked like he'd give anything to be able to refute that statement. Looking like he'd swallowed a bitter pill, he said-

"Do you want me to cooperate? …I'm willing to consider if your purpose isn't to harm Tsuna. I…'ve already done some great disservice to him. This whole thing might as well be my fault. It's one of the reasons why I'm going along with Hibari's each and every whim. That guy… seems convinced that Tsuna was the one who killed his mother. It's… disgusting. Tsuna's not that kind of guy. Right now, he seems content on blackmailing me and using me as a gopher, but it's better than him targeting Tsuna.

If you knew how much Tsuna and his mother meant to each other… That's why it's cruel that he's convinced about it. Those flowers, they're still in his home. It might be a memento, but given reality, it's even sadder. That's why he doesn't need any more painful things.

…What are you intending to do with the investigation…?" it was the first sign of courage that Gokudera had seen in Irie.

"I don't care if you or he cry over revealing everything. If he's to make it, he'll accept everything and more. It won't do otherwise" Irie's defensiveness for his friend, his insistence on making the brat look like an angel was like making Gokudera face the version of him that got desperate trying to justify and validate himself to follow a person. That was him forcing himself to see his would-be boss that he needed approval from in rose-tinted glasses. Everything his boss said was true, it had to be his fault for not measuring up. Otherwise why else would he have that string of rejections trailing after him? The problem must be in himself. Even though in the end, he was just a convenient tool that they could just use and throw.

'He won't be Vongola Decimo if I'd have anything to do with it if he can't do that much.'

Irie glowered at him.

"Is this what this is going to be then? I concoct the poison and made him feed his mother that like a quack, Hibari's going to guilt trip and gaslight him into thinking he's the mastermind and you're going to make him a bonafide killer. Why don't you go ahead and make him a mafia boss then?"

"You've hit it close. That guy's the dog of the Mafia. He's come here sniffing around for their bigshot's wife's murderer. As expected, he's got quite the nose since he found this place." The newcomer, Hibari cooly taunted.

Gokudera clicked his tongue at the way the infamous demon of Namimori exacerbated the situation. It was like all the negotiations were off the table. Irie looked aghast.

"W-why're you here then? What are you planning?"

"Not interested. Don't loiter around where you don't belong." Hibari dispassionately declared, moving in for the kill. Irie scrambled for the door, running to safety – but not before a look of suspicion at the bomber.

It was a treatment the silverette had long become familiar with. But it didn't make things any better. With fury rising, he bellowed.

"Keep your trap shut or I'll blow you up into smithereens."

Bombs flew right in front of Hibari who easily deflected them with his tonfas. He seemed utterly disinterested at the person in front of him like he wasn't even a challenge. It was infuriating at how that glance overlapped with countless others in his past. A tonfa smacked right into his head, sweeping him off his feet as explosions rung in the background. He felt like he got a concussion as a distinct smell of blood wafted across.

Unwilling to go down and jeopardize his mission, he reached for the suitcase and threw it right at the other. The suitcase made a bang as it punctured as the tonfa pierced right through it with the monstrous strength. It seemed like the rumors were right on the money.

Gokudera grunted as he rolled over the side as the luggage slammed at his silhouette making slight cracks on the wall. When he tried to sweep his feet to make the demon fall, the other's foot stomped right on top of his ankle. Seeing the green-eyed boy hiss, Hibari said.

"Tell Iemitsu that if he wants to badly know the truth, he should come and find it himself instead of making others do his dirty laundry. After all, look at how much his hired hands are failing."

Gokudera saw red and he threw the explosives again, not caring about their proximity.

The tonfas swatted them aside like they were flies. "Pathetic." was the disappointed Hibari's last sentence as he walked away, no longer interested in playing around.

The bomber grit his teeth as he tried to get up, but stumbled at the sharp pain. He fell on all fours on to the dirt and clenched his fists as they crushed the mud in his palms. The surroundings almost looked like disaster swept by. The bombs he had flung had created rubble in the places they were flung onto and rebar jutted out like broken bones. The tree that was one of its unfortunate victims had fire slowly covering it as sparks flew in the air. His luggage was ruined, making his settlement in the town even more difficult.

He pushed against the ground forcing himself to stand, against the sting at his ankles, the dizziness, and headache. His eyes roved towards the patch of grass – the nettle leaves he intended to trip that asshole into. Leaving the lingering regret behind, he hobbled aimlessly as restlessness settled in, his pride in shambles.

It couldn't end like this when he hasn't even started. When he couldn't even prove himself useful. It couldn't be all over.

As he got lost in thoughts, he found that his feet had led him to the Sawada household. His cheeks burned in shame as he remembered that he truly looked like a stray dog, covered in dirt and injuries. He stood in silence until a loud clatter came from upstairs.

"Get out of your room already, Dame-Tsuna. It's rude to not even greet your new home tutor."

It was a child's voice. Followed by that voice, a loud bang sounded as a brunette was flung out of the window.

"You're getting out one way or the other. It's not healthy to coop yourself in one room. It doesn't befit the next Vongola boss." A babywearing a fedora and a well-fitted suit with a large chameleon as a shrug and a yellow pacifier peered down at the teen.

The brunette seemed to be struggling to not fall down from the branch of the tree. Finally, he scrambled on top of the fragile branch, looking like a stuck cat.

"U-um, if you wouldn't mind, could you help me get down?"

"Dame-Tsuna, you won't grow until you start solving your own problems."

"Oh shut up. This is your fault in the first place, Reborn!"

Gokudera scowled as stepped forward to retort when the scent of those blasted flowers appeared. He then looked slightly disturbed as he shut his mouth. Tsuna took the approach as compliance as he took a freefall, not helping the bomber's situation.

"What the-?! Why the hell did you do that, you little brat! Gah. It hurts all over."

Tsuna's panic only worsened the situation as he applied pressure right into his wound as he struggled to get up. Seeing the other wince in pain, the flustered brunette hoisted him up with a shoulder and with a worryingly unsteady gait moved towards the door, before falling forward and into the house.

The house felt like it was drenched with perfume, and Gokudera felt like he was surrounded by his sister. The interior was dusty and unoccupied. It looked abandoned as the slight smell of food rotting wafted across.

It was a particularly nasty murder attempt. Feeling indignant, Gokudera tried to leave the slaughterhouse immediately.

"Wait. We've got to bandage you up properly-"

"Are you going to kill me or help me?! Choose one!"

"Oh sorry. Mom loved the smell, but I understand that it's not for everyone. Even I couldn't handle it because of how overwhelming it can be. Stay at the doorstep, I'll come down with the bandages."

Gokudera pinched his nose bridge in exasperation. Seeing Reborn come down, he asked.

"Are you not going to tell him?"

"A mafia boss can't be so ignorant. He's got to find it out for himself. I'll keep him stuck here until inspiration flashes."

"Why do I feel like he's going to die before that…?"

"It'll be the exposure that'll tiptoe the barrier between life and death. I'll keep him alive. It'll even help him in gaining poison resistance."

"He seems like a softie."

"He'll have to face reality. It's both for him and for Vongola. The war for succession is brutal and those flowers growing out his eyes aren't going to help."

It seems like Reborn already told Sawada Tsunayoshi about Xanxus. Judging by the snide comment seems like the response he got was one full of airheadedness – one they could expect from the late Sawada Nana.

"I see you've already gotten into a shuffle with Hibari Kyoya. Seems like he's a promising candidate."

Gokudera grimaced as he looked over his telling bruises, but he knew that he'd have to suck it up and ask because of the beat-up. He had wanted to impress Reborn and Vongola from the investigation, but his current self would drag things out as compared to his usual pace. The tampering was already done when he reached here, so maybe, Reborn would have better information.

"Reborn-san, what happened to Sawada Nana's body?"

Reborn tilted his fedora and answered in a dark tone – "It's already plant fertilizer, burnt and buried as nourishment in the backyard."

It was at that moment that Gokudera remembered that the garden looked like it's been disturbed recently. It was subtle but the color of the soil was funny looking like it was mixed with ash.

'To consume poison or be consumed by poison…'

A horrible guess popped up in his head, thus he whispered.

"…Is it that Hibari bastard."

Seeing Reborn so still confirmed it. Gokudera roared, as his situation overlapped, so utterly furious.

"Why the fuck is he a candidate?! That sick bastard! I bet he just casually waltzed over here, took an urn with her remains, and mixed it with the soil!

The nerve of that guy. He even totaled my luggage to force my leave without finding a place to stay-"

Reborn remained silent.

At this moment, Tsuna chose to reappear as he dashed forward for the first aid and took a nosedive across the staircase. The medical kit broke open and scattered the items in mid-air.

The highly-strung bomber instinctively threw a bomb at the flying items, blowing them up in an instant. The murky air instantly cleared up.

Reborn pouted at the missed training opportunity.

The brunette looked at the tarnished medical supplies and huffed a sigh of disappointment. Gokudera braced himself for reproach, but the other just gave a lop-sided smile of self-deprecation and said.

"Ah, well it doesn't matter if there are no proper tools. I had to improvise sometimes, so it's not like there's no solution."

The teen took a towel and ice from the freezer and carefully wrapped it around the silverette's ankle. He then took a damped cloth and carefully cleaned the wounds, before taking stuffed cotton from his pillow and taping it with duct tape. He finally took some pain killers from the bathroom near the living room and passed it to the bomber with a glass of water.

It was pretty meticulous and detailed for a person who tripped over thin air.

"Picked some skills from being useless all the time?"

"Well, my close friends are pretty rough, so I got to at least this much to keep up with them."

It was denial. The brunette in front of him wasn't acknowledging that he was being bullied.

"Oh? Then you must love that your best friends use you as their personal wallet, beat you into pulp, humiliate you at very chance they get, take a dig at you to make themselves feel better, and feel utter glee at the utter doormat you can be."

"Well, friendships involve a little sacrifice. We've been together thick and thin."

It was like the weak kid in front of him was taunting that at least he was given the choice of belonging somewhere, even if it was at the cost of being treated like shit.

"Though, I think the scale of sacrifice is skewed to your side."

"Well, it's not anything that calculated that every action should be measured and balanced."

"You honestly can't be satisfied being in pain all the time, can you?"

"Well, dad always told me that men bond with their fists. Besides, a little pain and suffering won't kill me. It'll even build character."

"Don't you feel a sense of unnaturalness at being treated that way?"

"My mom didn't tell me anything. No one has said anything about it until now. So it should be normal."

"It's not like you don't know what love and affection is. Didn't your mother shower you with plenty of it?"

"I'm very grateful for her… I was still trying to make up for my various flaws. I want the world for her, but what I tried to do has only somewhat worked. It seems like the other part hasn't been showing results… Well, I've always been incompetent, ahaha..."

'Is he talking about the flowers?

But this guy is deeply in denial that I understand what Reborn-san and Irie were talking about. Honestly speaking it pisses me. It's like seeing a mirror image.'

Gokudera's eyes softened as he looked at the family photo.

"…Say, what d'you think of staying here?"

The bomber's emerald eyes glittered as they narrowed in suspicion.

"Actually, I kind of overhead what you were saying to Reborn. Hibari-san… how do you say this- is akin to a natural disaster in the worst-case or an unavoidable phenomenon in the best case."

"What? Do you feel pity for me? Even though, you're Dame-Tsuna?"

"No. You've been so kind to me -even worrying about me, so I wanted to help out too."

'He's like a chick imprinting on the first-person being nice to him. Even though I've not, even remotely, being -ugh- nice to him.

He's probably just being vulnerable right now. His only support has died, so it's no blaming him. I was… in a similar place when Lavina was murdered.'

It was like seeing a past him. The child who longed for the person he didn't know was his mother, with her ending up dead due to their poisonous family background. Ironically, he sought the attention of the very being that led to her death and surrounded himself with them.

Maybe that was why he was being soft right now. Because he wanted to make things right with his younger self.

"I think we're similar, you and I. That's why it'd be great if you live here."

But ultimately, that was like them licking each other's wounds.

"If you recognize that, you should also move forward. How long do you think you can drag this for?" but those emerald eyes weren't looking at the brunette in front of him.

"But there's no need to. I want this house to be a place where she can return to, and where all she wished for can occur. The flowers and its aroma will guide her here. Recently, I can even more strongly believe that she could always come back here." It was words that felt like it was said before, but still, it's ideal entranced the bomber.

Reborn scowled at that sentence as he slightly shook his head. But it was unnoticed by the two that were engrossed in the conversation.

"…In that case, wouldn't it be better if I'm not there? I didn't belong in this little museum exhibit. How can you preserve time by bringing change into it."

"I don't want to stop time in particular. I want to make a future where we can live together happily for eternity. Her presence is in this house like she had never died – she looked so peaceful, so happy, that she couldn't have possibly left. So, I'll keep her company until the very end."

Gokudera understood it. He knew the truth. He knew why Reborn could still choose Hibari as a candidate because he was probably the other person who Tsuna talked to regarding the case.

It was honestly beautiful, the way Tsuna weaved this story. The way Tsuna loved was something Gokudera longed for – the acceptance, the need to belong, the wish to be cherished, the love that twisted over the darker notions of envy, hatred, or greed. It was an encompassing love that would snugly cover him amidst the pitch-black creep of the Mafia, one that wouldn't stop even for death.

The handmade bandages shielded his wounds from the world. They wouldn't fester, aggravated from exposure. The cotton, softly touched his skin as they comforted him, treating him like a treasure. He had been battered and bruised, treated like an intruder wherever he went. But the invitation, the warmth from the person in front of him in this cozy place was a temptation too strong for Hayato. Even more so, this person in front of him had no limits to keep his favorite to himself - he'd never be second fiddle or a sacrificial pawn.

If Hibari was the one who buried Nana Sawada here, maybe the lure Tsuna kept out was for Iemitsu. Unfortunately, that man was a wayward bird. If Tsuna wished for it, it could be done. After all, no bird could fly without wings. If nothing, Sawada Nana might have wanted to bind herself tightly to Iemitsu to not let him leave and the flowerbed wouldn't refuse food.